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                   exploits of Mithra runs thus. He was BORN OF A ROCK [dust of the ground-- Adam]
                   ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER under the shade of a SACRED FIG TREE...When he
                   had clothed himself with the LEAVES OF THE FIG-TREE, DETACHING THE FRUIT
                   [TO EAT?] and stripping the tree of its leaves by means of his knife, he undertook to
                   subjugate the beings ALREADY CREATED in the world." (The Mythology of All
                   Races, vol.VI. P.287).

                          Charles Alldritt clarifies this Mithras legend:

                          Mithras was said to have been born of a rock, and gifts were brought to him by
                          wise men and shepherds who had witnessed the miracle. But of course we must
                          again HAVE OUR TREE [of the Knowledge of Good and Evil]; and the new born
                          babe, to relieve cold and hunger WENT IMMEDIATELY TO A LARGE FIG
                          TREE AND ATE THE FRUIT AND CLOTHED HIMSELF WITH FIG
                          LEAVES. -- Tree Worship, page 60.


                          What about the ancient Egyptians? With one of the oldest civilizations this side of
                   the flood, we should expect to find evidence of legends built up around the tree in the
                   Garden of Eden. We are not disappointed! Returning to the work Forest Folklore,
                   Mythology, and Romance, we find this evidence:

                          In the great hall of the temple at Heliopolis in Egypt there once stood a VERY
                          ANCIENT SYCOMORE TREE OR SYCOMORE FIG (Ficus Sycomorus), of
                          which it is said that THOTH AND THE GODDESS SEFCHET, "the lady of
                          writing, the ruler of books," wrote the name of the Pharaoh on its leaves, and that
                          the god Atum, following her example, "wrote the name on the NOBLE TREE
                          with the writing of his own fingers." -- Page 220.

                          And who was Thoth? None other than the Egyptian GOD OF WISDOM! Notice
                   what J.E. Manchip White writes about this Thoth:

                          Thoth, the Greek Hermes [Cush]...was vizier and scribe of the gods and controller
                          of the seasons, the moon and the stars. He invented hieroglyphic writing,
                          mathematics, the keeping of accounts, languages, magic, the legal system and
                          even the game of draughts. He was married to the heavenly librarian Seshat
                          [Sefchet], who inscribed on the leaves of the Tree of Heaven [fig] the record of
                          every man's life. -- Ancient Egypt: Its Culture and History, Dover Publications,
                          N.Y. 1970. P.24.

                          Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson underscores the importance of the FIG TREE to the
                   ancient Egyptians:


                          Of FIGS and grapes they [the Egyptians] were particularly fond, which is shown
                          by their CONSTANT introduction, even among the CHOICE OFFERING
                          PRESENTED TO THE GODS; and figs of the sycamore must have been
                          HIGHLY ESTEEMED, since they were selected as the HEAVENLY FRUIT,
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